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The Importance Of Liberal Democracy In Singapore

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Singapore’s current political system is a democratic society. On paper, it ticks all the boxes of what makes a democratic system. It gives citizens the right to vote for the person they feel will best represent the voice of the people and address their needs. It also ensures that people have the freedom of speech and expression as stated in Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. However, things do not appear to be so straightforward, there definitely is more than meets the eye. After all, Singapore was named as an example to an “illiberal democracy” in a regularly cited article in the journal Foreign Affairs. So do the citizens in Singapore really have true democracy? In this essay, I will develop on why Singapore is an illiberal democracy and then discuss on whether a liberal democracy is the way forward for Singapore.

Firstly, a liberal democracy is one that embraces liberalism through the fairness of elections between different political parties and also the protection of human rights and liberties for everyone. Examples of liberal democracies are the United States, United Kingdom and France.
One main difference in how United Kingdom and Singapore conducts its election process is the time given for the parties to campaign. United Kingdom held its election earlier this year – dissolution of Parliament happened on 30 March and polling day was 6 weeks later on 7 May. Singapore, on the other hand, gave a significantly shorter time for parties to

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